Congress Renominates Oscar Fernandes to Rajya Sabha

New Delhi, Jun 4 (DHNS): The Congress on Friday announced senior leader Oscar Fernandes as its candidate for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka.  
 
Though earlier the party was planning to field two candidates ––Fernandes and outgoing member B K Hariprasad–– hoping to strike an electoral pact with the JD(S), it has now decided to settle for only one as the talks between the two parties collapsed.

The party also announced the candidature of Union Minister Ambika Soni from Punjab and general secretary Mohsina Kidwai from Chhattisgarh, but there was no word on Union Minister for Commerce Anand Sharma.

Sharma, who hails from Himachal Pradesh and whose term in the Rajya Sabha has already come to an end, may be nominated from either Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, party sources said. He has to get elected to retain his place in the Union Cabinet.
The BJP announced the candidature of journalists Chandan Mitra from Madhya Pradesh and Tarun Vijay from Uttarakhand for the election.

The names of the sitting RS member Najma Hepthulla and former MP Hema Malini also came for discussion at BJP Parliamentary Board meeting held here, but their names did not figure in the list.

However sources in the party said that they could be accommodated in the next list as the party is yet to decide on three seats––one each in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Orissa.

The party is still discussing what to do with the surplus votes it will have after getting elected its two candidates––Venkaiah Naidu and Ayanur Manjunath––from Karnataka.

Certain leaders at the central election committee of the party in Delhi favoured noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani to be fielded as third candidate from Karnataka.

However, the RSS at a meeting held in Bangalore on Thursday was said to have strongly opposed this proposal. Industrialists Vijay Mallya and Sajjan Jindal are said to be lobbying hard to get into the fray.